One of the big deals of starting a relationship and trying to build a life is agreeing on the type of environment you want to live in. Sure, compromises can and will probably need to be made, but if one partner has a particular dislike for the city buzz, for instance, their having to compromise by living in the city will eventually lead to some resentment.

It’s unfortunate, but true. One thing I’ve learned is that I love a city’s energy. I love the people, the culture, the food, the entertainment, the art, the park. But there are also things I don’t like about living in a city.

I don’t like having to walk at least a mile to get a decent cup of coffee.

I don’t like it when the only street I can safely cross without being hit by a car is one that a City of St. Louis sewer main runs right down.

I don’t like having to walk to school every day and have all of my groceries delivered.

I don’t like having to get a really good parking space in a garage (any garage) before noon and then spend all afternoon shovelling snow out of it.

I don’t like the smog.

I don’t like the fact that at the end of the year I have to visit the dentist.

I don’t like that when it’s really hot I can’t just open the windows and let some airflow through. Probably I’ll have to start looking for some reputable air conditioning service providers in my area like Brooks Heating & Air (brookshvac.com/) and get it fixed at the earliest opportunity.

I don’t like that when it’s really hot I can’t just open the windows and let some air flow through.

I don’t like having to be stuck in traffic for forty minutes on the way home because of a red light.

I don’t like that when I’m driving at night and I need to make a left turn I have to make sure and look both ways because there is no sidewalk for about five miles.

I don’t like the fact that when I want to go out to eat there is only one restaurant within thirty minutes of me.

I don’t like that my mortgage payments are going to go up.

I don’t like that my air conditioner goes out when it’s ninety degrees outside, leaving me looking for an AC repair company at the last moment in a puddle of sweat.

I actually hate that feeling of hastily looking for services, rummaging through online websites to find who can come to my rescue at the last moment. That is why, I have decided to keep the number of an AC repair service provider handy so that I do not have to be under the stress of finding a handyman in haste.

I don’t like that I can’t find clothes I like in the thrift store or at the second hand shop.

I don’t like that the water I drink smells like someone had a nasty bath and not just because it’s well water.

I don’t like that the real estate agent who sold me my house says I should be glad I have a garage, a driveway, and a big front porch because at least it’s my own house.

I don’t like that I live near three borders with other countries and am always at least a fifteen minute drive from the closest international port.

I don’t like that my backyard looks like it’s been hit by a tornado.

I don’t like that I can’t find anything I like on TV.

I don’t like that the local radio stations play the same six songs over and over again.

I don’t like that I have to buy a minimum of two library books per month.

I don’t like that it’s illegal for me to park on the street.

I don’t like that the water pipes in my house cost more than my car.

I don’t like the fact that when I buy a new CD the copy is two inches thick and has twenty songs on it.

I don’t like that some days I can’t hear the cars that are going fifty miles an hour past my house.

I don’t like that I have to walk from my mailbox to the car, even in the rain.

I don’t like that the airplane landing is so loud it drowns out all the street noise.

I don’t like the traffic at night.

I don’t like that the garbage trucks can be heard twenty-five feet away from my apartment.

I don’t like that there is no liquor store within a hundred miles…

I’m making it all work, all the same, but hopefully that new casinos 2021 list I’ve been meaning to explore will make for yet another escape route to keep my mind off things!